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Centennial Series 
War of 1812^15 



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Battle of York 

An Account of the Eight Hours' Rattle from 

the Number (Bay to the Old Fort 

in T>efence of York on 

April 27, 1813 




Barlow Cumberland, M.A. 



CENTENNIAL SERIES. WAR OF 1812-15 



The Battle of York 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE EIGHT HOURS' BATTLE 

FROM THE HUMBER BAY TO THE OLD 

FORT IN THE DEFENCE OF YORK 

ON 27th APRIL, 1813 



BY 

BARLOW CUMBERLAND, M.A. 



TORONTO 

WILLIAM BRIGGS 

1913 



TbZCCf 



Copyright, Canada, 1913, by 
Barlow Cumberland 



The Battle of York 



It used to be said, and not so many years ago, 
that Canada was an unhistoric country, that it had 
no history. Perhaps this was because our peoples 
in these western parts, whose beginnings of occupa- 
tion commenced but a little over one hundred years 
ago, have been so much occupied with clearing the 
forests and developing our resources that but little 
time has been given to the studying and recording 
of its earlier days. Our thoughts have been de- 
voted more to what is called the practical, rather 
than to the reminiscent, to the future rather than to 
the past. Yet in this past is the potent formative 
power for creating the character of our people, the 
sources of patriot emulation and honour by which 
our progress is to be guided and governed. Much 
has been done of later years by our Historical Socie- 
ties and devoted searchers in collecting and pub- 
lishing material from original sources and personal 
memories which has greatly helped the writers of 
our History, so that instead of the dry and matter- 
of-fact collations from statistics which were laid 
before us in our early days has come the awakening 
of the memories of the devotion, valour, patriotism, 
and self-sacrifice of the men and the women who 
were the first comers, and founders of our country. 
The vivid history of the times when men lived and 



4 THE BATTLE OF YORK 

strove — and died for a noble cause, thinking more 
of their country than of themselves, for those who 
were to follow them than of their own gain. 

The festival of the Tercentenary at Quebec 
brought more evidence to the public view of the 
romance and ideality of our Canadian History and 
of how marvellously our French and English-speak- 
ing peoples have, as Canadians, been intertwined. 

An impulse has thus been given to interest in His- 
torical research, the caring for and preservation of 
Historical Memorials. The ideal has at last touched 
thie practical and the true value of Historical evi- 
dences and teachings are appreciated. 

No better example of this can be given than that 
the City of Toronto has now undertaken the duty, 
on behalf of all Canada, of restoring and maintain- 
ing the old Fort of York as a national memorial. 

For this there is indeed cause to rejoice, for in 
Ontario we have but few memorials to record the 
brave days of old. The statue of Brant at Brant- 
ford and that under way of Tecumseh in the Valley 
of the Thames tell of the loyalty and fortitude of 
the noble Indian tribes who fought side by side 
with our soldiers for the defence and maintenancy 
of our country against American invasions. 

On the south shore of Lake Ontario the lofty 
shaft of Brock's monument erected by the Militia 
of Canada keeps fresh the memory of the glorious 
days of Queenston Heights and daily teaches the 
lessons of how our forefathers gladly laid down 
their lives on the 13th of October, 1812. 



THE BATTLE OF YORK 5 

Away to the east, where the St. Lawrence runs 
beneath the ramparts of old Quebec, stands the 
honoured monument to the two heroes who died 
upon the fatal field — Wolfe and Montcalm, victor 
and vanquished, who in valour, in death, and in 
fame, were not divided. 

Canadian history has lavished its records upon 
the surrounding neighbourhood and at '" Wolfe's 
Cove" and the " Plains of Abraham," there is well 
known historic ground. 

Yet we, too, nearer home, have an eventful and 
strangely parallel scene of strife. 

In the neighbourhood of our city of Toronto, the 
" Humber Bay " is our " Wolfe's Cove," the " Gar- 
rison Common" our "Plains of Abraham"; over 
them in one long day a fierce battle raged, on them 
a victor died in the hour of victory. 

As we pass along the w^estward of where the Hum- 
ber Bay begins its graceful curve there will be 
found no memorial raised to do honour to whom 
honour is due. 

As we enter the city of Toronto, we shall find no 
statue erected to the fallen, no inscription set up to 
record tlie deeds of the eventful day, and at the Old 
Fort, the culminating point of the attack, not, as 
yet, any tribute paid to the memories of those 
gallant defenders who fought and died in the de- 
fence of York on the 2Tth April, 1813. 

As there are no memorials, perhaps, by recalling 
the events and following the strife along the shore 
and the positions successively taken by the contest- 



6 THE BATTLE OF YOEK 

ants, each spot will itself become to us a memorial 
and the whole shore an historic monument. 

With the short space at our disposal this will 
only be a resume of a longer publication to follow 
at a later date. 

On the 13th of October, 1812, the Battle of 
Queenston Heights had been fought; General Sir 
Roger Sheaffe had succeeded to the command of the 
British Forces and on that eventful day had pressed 
forward his reserves and completed the victory. At 
the conclusion of the day an armistice for three 
days, asked for by the Americans, had been assented 
to, and while the body of Brock was being laid to 
rest in the bastion of Old Fort George, the Ameri- 
cans fired minute guns in token of respect to their 
victorious foe. Thereafter their forces on the east 
bank and the British on the west bank of the Niagara 
River watched one another without enjoying hostili- 
ties. The campaign of that year had closed with an 
unbroken series of British victories. 

The Americans at the outset had considered, and 
Jefferson had written in August, 1812, that the 
acquisition of Canada would be but " a mere matter 
of marching " giving " an experience for the attack 
of the next year and the final expulsion of England 
from the American continent." With such enor- 
mous preponderance in population and in arma- 
ment this estimate was what might have been 
expected, but they did not reckon on the loyal and 
dogged valour of the Canadians in defence of their 
homes and liberties — a valour which still exists to- 
dav. 



THE BATTLE OF YORK 7 

During the winter of 1812-13 strenuous efforts 
were made by the American Government in for- 
warding stores and reinforcements to their Ontario 
frontier. They massed these men in three divisions 
for the coming invasion of Canada. General Dear- 
born was placed in command of the Army of the 
Centre, and at the opening of the spring of 1813 had 
collected his forces, 3,000 at Buffalo, 3,300 on the 
Niagara frontier, and 4,000 at Sackett's Harbour. 
To the east 5,000 men had been concentrated at 
Lake Champlain, and to the west 2,000 men were in 
fortified camp under General Harrison, on the 
banks of the Miami, immediately to the south of 
Detroit. 

Commodore Chauncey was in control of the naval 
operations with his headquarters at Sacketts' Har- 
bour at the east end of Lake Ontario. 

The close of navigation of 1812 had left both sides 
in about equal naval strength on Lake Ontario, and 
immense activity was executed by both in prepara- 
tions for obtaining control of the lake in the spring. 
Guns and ammunition were being brought up on 
sleighs from Quebec, and 500 seamen under Com- 
modore Sir James Yeo were on their way from 
Halifax overland across New Brunswick and along 
the lower St. Lawrence to man the British fleet, 
but did not arrive at Kingston until the 1st of May, 
while Kingston, where two new ships were under 
construction, was strongly fortified, Y'ork, where 
another was being built, was poorly provided, and 
the mistake made by the British in building their 



8 THE BATTLE OF YORK 

new ships in different places laid them open to the 
attack which followed. 

The land forces on the Canadian side were 970 
men and 1,200 Indians at Detroit and Amherstburg, 
General Vincent in command at Fort George with 
1,700 men and 500 Indians distributed between 
Newark and along the Niagara River to Fort Erie. 
General Sheaffe 400 at Fort York, Sir George Pre- 
vost with, at the east end of the lake and in 
Lower Canada, 3,000 regulars, making about 7,700 
in all, a small force with which to repel an invasion 
as was then impending by 17,000 men, but they were 
strong in determination and flushed with the vic- 
tories which they had obtained in the campaign of 
the previous year. 

The campaign of 1813 opened by the attack on 
Ogdensburg, 22nd February, when Lieut.-Colonel 
Macdonell, with his recently raised Glengarry 
Fencibles, the Companies of the 8th Regiment, then 
on their way to York, and the local militia crossed 
the river on the ice and captured eleven guns, a 
quantity of arms and ammunition, and a stand of 
colours, and the American flag of the garrison, 
which were subsequentl}' sent to King George, and 
also burned the barracks and two armed schooners. 
At the opening of the Spring, Chauncey's fleet, 
spurred by the enterprise at Ogdensburg, was ready 
to sail from Sackett's Harbour ; the British fleet at 
Kingston was still shut in by ice, so it was deter- 
mined to carry out the intention of attacking York. 

The fact of York being the seat of Government 
of the Province of Upper Canada gave it an import- 



THE BATTLE OF YORK 9 

ance greatei* than it really merited, for it tlieu con- 
sisted of only a small village of less than one thou- 
sand inhabitants, where houses were built mainly 
about the banks of the River Don. The Provincial 
Parliament, under Sir Roger Sheaffe, as adminis- 
trator, had assembled on 25rh February, in the 
Parliament Buildings,— two long one-storey wooden 
buildings erected near the foot of the street which 
still bears the name of Parliament Street. 

The defences of the town, if indeed they can be 
properly so termed, were entirely inadequate. 

In the summer of 1811 General Brock had sent 
a report to headquarters condemning them as defi- 
cient and proposing additions, but nothing had been 
done beyond building the stone magazine which 
played so tragic a part in one day's doings. The 
rear of the town was entirely without defences, the 
virgin pine forests with trees 180 to 200 feet high, 
came close down to the houses which extended 
beyond what is now known as the east end of Queen 
Street. On the skirts of the woods a contemporary 
letter says "the Five Nation Indians who have come 
down for the war are encamped and keep us alive 
with their war dances, and make the woods echo 
with their savage yells." At the east way, were a 
blockhouse and tete-du-pont, or earthworth, on the 
Kingston Road, covering the bridge across the Don. 

Two miles to the west of the town on a triangular 
knoll rising between the Garrison Creek and the 
shore of the lake, and commanding the entrance to 
the harbour was the earthwork and blockhouses 
constructed by Governor Simcoe, being the present 



10 THE BATTLE OF YORK 

Old Fort York, existing to-day very much in its 
outlines as it did in 1813. In this were the maga- 
zines, official residences and the barracks of the 
garrison. 

This was then composed of the Regulars and the 
3rd York Militia, in duty under the command of 
Colonel Chewett, and among whose officers at the 
time were Major Allan, Captain Stephen Heward, 
Lieutenants Richardson, Jarvis, and Robinson, and 
Sergeants Knott, Humberstone, Baird and Bridge- 
ford, whose names through their descendants are 
still familiar. 

This Regiment had been in active service on the 
frontier in the previous year, and it was in refer- 
ence to it that Brock, when receiving his fatal 
wound at Queenston Heights, had given the order, 
" Push on the York Volunteers." 

The armament of the fort was incomplete, the 
guns expected from Kingston not having arrived, 
but fortunately the Duke of Gloucester brig which 
was being converted into a troopship, was wintering 
in the harbour, and the six small six-pounders from 
her and some of the guns for the new gunship which 
was being built in the dockyard at the foot of Sim- 
coe Street, of which eight 18-pound cannonades had 
arrived from Fort George, were available. The guns 
from the ships were distributed between the West- 
ern Battery, a small 18-pound battery, thrown up 
on the edge of the high bank on the shore, east 
of the site of the present Stanley Barracks, in the 
Half-Moon Battery, a semi-circular field work about 
400 yards to the west of, and protecting the road- 



THE BATTLE OP YOEK 11 

way to the garrison, and in the bastions of the old 
fort itself. 

Away to the west in a wide clearing, were the 
remains of the old French fort, known as Fort 
Kouille, or Fort Toronto. Mention is made of three 
old 18-pounders without trunnions, having been 
brought into service by clamping them with iron 
hoops on pine logs, which thus served for gun car- 
riages. These had been dug up, it was said, in the 
old French fort. 

As a position of military strength, the place was 
not worthy of attack, but it was good policy on the 
part of the Americans to attempt the capture of 
the two vessels, the Prince Regent, 12 guns, and the 
Gloucester^ which were known to be wintering in 
the harbour, and of the new 30-gunship which was 
almost completed, as their supremacy in the lake 
would thus be materially advanced. 

General Sheaffe, who was acting as Adminis- 
trator of the Province, had been detained by his 
own ill-health and the meeting of the Parliament 
was in command at York. The troops there under 
him on 26th April, consisted in all of six hun- 
dred men, Eegulars and Militia, with one hundred 
Indians under Major Givens. 

The Regulars consisted of one corps of the Glen- 
garry Fencibles, a local Canadian regiment, which 
had been raised in the Scots settlements around 
Glengarry; fifty men of the Newfoundland Regi- 
ment, raised in their Island; 350 men of the 3rd 
York Militia, then in garrison, and the Grenadier 
Companies, about 100 men of the 8th, or King's 



12 THE BATTLE OF YORK 

Eojal Regiment, which, with much good luck, had 
arrived on the 25th, in batteaux, on their way from 
Kingston, and were allowed to remain over at York 
to rest for a day after their long journey. It was, 
alas, a long rest for most of them. These, with the 
artificers and staff in the dockyard, made up 600 
in all. 

ChaunceA's fleet at Sackett's Harbour, consisting 
of fourteen armed ships and two transports, with 
the Madison as flagship, were manned by 800 sailors 
and carried 112 guns, of which 40 were 32-p()unders 
of longer range and throwing heavier shot than any 
of the guns at York. 

The troops, consisting of 1,700 " picked soldiers," 
had been embarked with Major-General Dearborn 
in command, on the 23rd April, but the weather 
being stormy, the fleet put back and remained in 
port on the 21th, collecting some more men, did not 
sail until the 25th. Before sailing, General Pike, 
who had been appointed to command the land 
forces, issued his orders for the landing and attack, 
and for a reminder and encouragement to his men 
added to his address: "It is expected that every 
corps will be mindful of the honour of the American 
name and the disgraces which have recently tar- 
nished our arms, and endeavour by a cool and 
determined discharge of duty to support the one 
and wipe oft" the other." 

This clause thus frankly admitting the defeats at 
Detroit, Queenston Heights and Ogdensburg, was 
quite in accord with Pike's character and record 
as an intrepid explorer, after whom Pike's peak had 



THE BATTLE OF YORK 13 

been named, and a thorough and energetic soldier, 
devoted to his profession. Another clause appear- 
ing to have been inspired from higher quarters, 
reads : " The poor Canadians have been forced into 
this war and their property should be held sacred, 
but the commanding General assures the troops 
that should they capture a large quantity of public 
stores he will use his best endeavours to procure 
them a reward from their Government." 

It is strange to note how completely the Ameri- 
cans have always underestimated and mistaken the 
spirit of the Canadian peoples. It had been so in 
1775, when they attacked the French-Canadians in 
Quebec, again in 1812, and yet again in 1866 when 
they really believed that the Canadians would flock 
to the side of the Fenians and gladly throw off the 
yoke of the monarchical form of Government under 
Avhich they were considered to be held in bondage. 

They forget that French and English tongues in 
Canada speak from Canadian-British hearts, and 
that the Union Jack, for which all three periods 
have fought, is the peoples' happy flag of freedom. 

Dearborn's men, incited to wipe out dishonour 
and obtain booty, were soon to find that the pooi- 
Canadians of 1812 could fight for the honour of 
their flag, without hope of reward, and gallantly 
die in defence of their country and their home. 

With the British fleet at Kingston waiting for 
its sailors and safely blocked in by ice, Chauncej' 
and his expedition sailed boldly out into the open 
lake. 



14 THE BATTLE OF YORK 

Rumours had been heard all during the winter 
of the preparations which were being made on the 
American side. Yeo and his sailors were still 
struggling through the snow from Halifax. There 
were no telegraphs in those days, and but one road, 
the Kingston road, which wound its way through 
the forests and the scattered settlements which 
fringed the shores of the lake. News came slowly. 
It was a time of expectancy and all Canada was 
waiting for the attack. 

It was known at York that the breaking up of 
the ice would be the signal for the sailing of the 
enemy's fleet. The ice had given way in the harbour 
and the Prince Regent warped down and sailed out 
into the lake on the 24th, to reconnoitre the position 
and so escaped the invasion. Videttes had been 
posted out upon the Scarborough Heights and along 
the eastern shores of the lake, to give earliest warn- 
ing of any advance, and general activity prevailed. 
All men capable of bearing arms were being drilled, 
young Allan McNab (afterwards Sir Allan Mc- 
Nab), a lad of only 14, but stout and large for his 
years, stood in the ranks alongside his old weather- 
beaten and war-scarred father, and a general sense 
of cheerful readiness prevailed. The Parliament 
had but recently completed its sittings and festivi- 
ties were still being maintained. A little girl of six 
narrated that her mother, Mrs. Grant Powell, had 
issued invitations for a party on the evening of the 
26th, the supper table had been laid and she had 
been dressed to see the company arrive. Only one 
lady and no gentlemen came, when later on her 



THE BATTLE OF YORK 15 

father hurried in saying the American fleet had 
been sighted, and he and the other volunteers had 
been ordered under arms. Then may have come the 
scene so graphically told by our poet, Charles Mair, 
in the stirring lines in his Drama of Tecumseth. 

" What news afoot? 
Why every one's afoot and coming here 
York's citizens are turned to warriors 
The learned professions go a-soldiering 
And gentle hearts beat high for Canada. 
For, as you pass, on every hand you see 
Through the neglected openings of each house 
Through doorways, windows, our Canadian maids 
Strained by their parting lovers to their breasts, 
And loyal matrons busy round their lords 
Buckling their arms on, or, with tearful eyes 
Kissing them to the war." 

About 5 o'clock on Monday afternoon the 26th, 
some ten ships of the enemy were sighted from the 
Highlands of Scarborough about eight miles out on 
the lake, and steering apparently towards York. At 
full speed the vidette rode express to bring the news 
into town. The signal guns were fired, the single 
bell of the church was rung, and was promptly 
obeyed, as the call to arms. Every man who could 
hold a musket or secure a gun volunteered for ser- 
vice, Alexander Wood, Quetton St. George, and 
Beikie, with others unattached, fell into the ranks, 
and Donald MacLean, the Clerk of the House, 
throwing off his gown, brought out his gun, to die, 
alas, next morning, on the Humber beach, fighting 
alongside the 8th Grenadiers. 



16 THE BATTLE OF YORK 

One Company was sent east to guard the King- 
ston Road, outworks were posted, and the rest of 
the forces held in readiness to move either to the 
east flank or the west flank, so soon as the direction 
of the attack should be learned. By 8 o'clock that 
evening General Sheaffe, with his Adjutant of Mili- 
tia, General Shaw, had completed their prepara- 
tions. 

Every man went out ready to his post, and 
through the night a close watch was kept to dis- 
cover where the fleet which was known to be some- 
where outside in the dark, would endeavour to make 
a landing. 

At dawn, through the haze, it appeared as thougli 
the fleet, which had been lying to outside, were head- 
ing to land on the peninsula just opposite the town, 
to which access could be obtained by road. An out- 
post had been kept here on the narrow place called 
the " portage," for the lake had not then broken 
through the sandbar. A landing at this place 
would have avoided the forts at the entrance of the 
harbour and come direct at the town. A brisk 
breeze from the east, howevt^-, was springing up, 
and about 5 a.m tlie fleet bore away to round the 
Gibraltar Point. It was a fine sight, as an eye- 
witness described, to see those sixteen armed vessels 
crowded with men, sailing in regular order, the 
flagship leading, the others following in a line, and 
each towing several large boats for the purpose of 
landing the troops. The intention had been to land 
at the large clearing where the old French fort had 
been, but the wind had strengthened, and so the 



THE BATTLE OP YORK 17 

vessels were earried farther around the point. Sail 
was then rapidly taken in and the ships rounded to 
and came to anchor at the eastern end of the Hum- 
ber Bay. 

It was now certain that the attack was to be made 
from the western end of the town, and ^lajor Givens 
and his Indians were dispatched to distribute them- 
selves in the wooded banks above the beach at the 
Humber Bay, with the Company of the Glengarry 
Regiment to act as supi^ort. Orders were given to 
recall the men from the east of the town and for 
the main body to concentrate on the ground to the 
west of the garrison. 

The boats of the fleet were got out and manned 
by the sailors, the troops were promptly embarked 
and the landing began between G and 7 a.m., under 
the cover of the guns of the ships. Captain Forsyth 
with his companies of riflemen were to lead the van 
of the American attack. As they neared the shore 
in two batteaux and came under a brisk fire from 
the Indians and Glengarries, Avho were concealed 
in the thickets, the Captain gave the orders : " Rest 
on your oars,-' " Prime." It is to be remembered 
that the arms then used were only flintlocks, requir- 
ing priming from powder horns and available onh^ 
at short distances, the uuiximum effective range 
being about two hundre<l yards. It looked for a 
moment as though there was a hesitation on tlie 
part of the attack, due to tlie fire from the shore. 
Meantime the Canadian supports were being hur- 
ried forward from the town, and the Newfoundland 
Company and the Grenadiers of th(.» 8th were sent 



18 THE BATTLE OF YORK 

forward. Major-General Shaw, with a detachment 
of the Glengarries and a gun, were sent out in the 
direction of the Dundas Road to protect the rear 
and take such steps as were necessary. Coming 
later into action and down from the highlands, the 
ponds in front of them had to be crossed. It was 
late in the month of April when the ice in the har- 
bour had broken up and that in the inland ponds 
was rotten. Tradition tells that as the men were 
crossing over the frozen ponds the ice gave way 
and two Grenadiers having been drowned, the Gren- 
adier pond thus gained its name. Let us trust 
that the name which perpetuates the memory of 
the gallant companies will ever be retained. It has 
been proposed to change the name to " Howard 
Lake," in recognition of the donor to the city of 
Toronto of the adjacent park. Let the park be 
called Howard Park, but the preserving of the 
name of Grenadier Lake is due to those who fought 
and died on this eventful day. 

This Grenadier Lake then is an appropriate place 
for our first memorial. Notwithstanding the fire 
from the Indians and Fencibles, Forsyth effected a 
landing. MacLean was killed defending the beach. 
The shore and banks as far as the clearing of the 
old French fort were clad with brush and thick 
woods, into which the riflemen at once spread, and 
their boats, which had been landing more men, re- 
turned with further reinforcements. 

General Pike had been watching the debarkation 
from the flagship Madiso7i, he had noted the firing 
from the woods and the stopping of the boats. 



THE BATTLE OP YORK 19 

Becoming impatient lie said to one of his staff, " By 
G — I can't stay here any longer. Come, jump into 
the boat " — a boat had been reserved for him along- 
side, and he at once started for the shore. 

Pike was an impetuous young man at the age 
of 34 and a bold soldier. He was the son of an old 
soldier, and joining the American regular service 
when but a lad, had served with distinction upon 
the Indian frontiers and in the early western explor- 
ation of the Mississippi. To his great joy and at 
his own urgent request he had been appointed to 
the command of the brigade for the attack on York. 
A letter of his, written to his father the day before 
the expedition sailed, has been preserved, in which 
he writes: — 

"I embark to-morrow in the fleet at Sackett's 
Harbour at the head of a column of choice troops 
on a secret expedition. Should I be the happy 
mortal destined to turn the scale of war, will you 
not rejoice, oh my father! May Heaven be propi- 
tious and smile on our cause, but if we are destined 
to fall, may my fall be like Wolfe's — to sleep in the 
hour of victory." 

His letter, the events of the day proved to be 
almost prophetic. We cannot but admire such a 
spirit, even though it be in an enemy, nor fail to 
give every credit to so gallant a foe, a man of mettle 
and of valour, by whom it was almost a credit to 
have been defeated. 

Covered by the broadside from the fleet which, 
firing over the heads of the boats, swept the banks, 



20 THE BATTLE OF YORK 

Major King and the 15th Battalion of American 
Infantry were landed in support of the riflemen, 
and in the contest which followed, Forsyth, as a 
writer says, " lost some men, but no credit." 

Here, where the Americans landed and Donald 
MacLean fell defending the shore, is our second 
memorial. 

Opposed by these reinforcements, Major Givens, 
with his Indians and the Fencibles, had kept up a 
brisk fire among the trees and brushwood, fighting 
every inch of the way, but were driven back. The 
two Companies of the 8th had now come up from 
the clearing, and entering the wood, a gallant 
charge was made upon the advancing American 
column along the top of the bank, causing it par- 
tially to retire. In this the Grenadiers suffered 
severely, and Captain MacNeil, while valourously 
leading his men, was killed. 

MacNeil was buried by the enemy near the spot 
where he fell, and afterwards, in 1829, the Loyalist 
paper of the 9th of May, says: 

" The waters of the lake having lately made great 
inroads along the bank, and the grave being in 
danger of being washed away, the Commander of 
the ()8th Regiment had the remains removed and 
placed on that day in the garrison burying-ground. 
A firing party and the band of the regiment attended 
on the occasion." 

This bank referred to is the high ground on the 
eastern end of the Humber Bay, where the Grand 
Trunk Railway now passes through a deep cutting. 



THE BATTLE OF YORK 21 

Others of the gallant men, on both sides, who 
fell in the struggle along these lofty banks fring- 
ing the bay, were also buried on them, and from 
time to time, as the cliff has been worn away 
by the waters of the lake, military accoutrements, 
fragments of firearms and of skeletons have been 
exposed to view. This is indeed sacred ground. The 
open cliff, with its clay sides seamed by the rains, 
sloping to the lake, and its feet washed by the 
ceaseless waves, mutely says to the passerby, " Here 
MacXeil died." One can stand upon its heights to- 
day and in imagination see the long line of ships 
at anchor, the boats making for the shore, hear the 
scream of the grapeshot, the pattering of the mus- 
ket, the whoops of the Indians as they skirmished 
from tree to tree, and the hoarse cry of the red- 
coats when their leader fell. Then on another day 
sixteen years afterwards see his brothers standing 
with reversed arms while the coflin was raised from 
its first grave, and follow the solemn procession 
winding over the garrison plain with mournful 
music and muffled drums to the military burying- 
ground, where the blank volleys fired in the air told 
that the hero had again been laid to rest. The 
thought of such scenes moves the pulses of the heart 
and emboldens the spirit to stand firm for native 
land. 

Here on the high bank where MacNeil was killed 
would be the proper place for our third memorial. 

It was now past 9 o'clock. The landing-place 
having been left clear, the American reinforcements 



22 THE BATTLE OF YORK 

were fast pushed forward. Two hundred of the 
Militia and the Newfoundland Company had now 
arrived from the east end of the town, but our men 
were unable to sustain the contest against the super- 
ior and ever increasing numbers aided by the flank 
fire from the ships. 

The American main body, having now been all 
landed, a general advance was ordered. General 
Pike in person led the first line, composed of the 6th, 
15th, 16th and 21st regiments, with a detachment of 
light and heavy artillery. The second line vras formed 
under command of General Pearce. The American 
advance was slow, for the ground, at all times wet 
and marshy, as it is in parts even to this day on 
the Garrison Commons, was made heavier by the 
melting snow. Lieut. Fanning, of the 3rd American 
Artillery, found great difficulty in dragging his field 
pieces through the woods and across the rivulets 
from which the bridges had been removed. 

Our men were fighting behind every tree. An 
advance party of the Americans was sent forward 
to clear the woods, and stubbornly resisting, our 
men were pressed back by superior numbers. On 
reaching the open ground around the old French 
fort our men retired to the Western Battery. The 
men of the 8th, having been reduced by the loss of 
their Captain and half of their men killed or 
wounded, combined to man the guns. 

Here at the old French Fort the monument of 
Fort Eouille already forms our fourth memorial. 

The Americans now emerged upon the clearings. 
Fanning's guns were brought up and fire opened 



THE BATTLE OF YORK 23 

upon the battery. Pike ordered his buglers to sound 
the advance, and their blast, carried down by the 
breeze, was answered by cheers from the ships. 

The light draught vessels beat up east and around 
the point and along the shore, and subjected our 
men to a heavy flank fire, and poured their broad- 
sides into the batteries. This western battery had 
been manned with the 18-pound guns removed from 
the " Gloucester/' but they were far inferior to the 
long 32's of the fleet which rained shot into them 
at a range which they could not meet. Pike sent 
out his aide-de-camp, Lieut. Fraser, with a sergeant, 
to the right of the battery to reconnoitre. They 
returned w-ith the report that the men in the battery 
were spiking the guns toward the fleet. 

The General immediately ordered the 16th Regi- 
ment to lead and make an assault. Captain Wal- 
worth and his men advanced with trailed arms 
under fire from the battery, whose grapeshot were 
whistling about them as they moved forward. Hav- 
ing covered a portion of the distance just as the 
16th were about being steadied and ordered to 
charge, an explosion took place in the battery. One 
of our men, incautiously holding a port fire behind 
him had dropped the fuse into the cartridges for the 
guns which were in a moveable magazine lying open 
behind his back. The explosion, besides killing and 
wounding a number of our men, seriously damaged 
the defences and dismounted another gun. Shat- 
tered by the fire from the ships, their number decim- 
ated, and their defences destroyed, the remnant 



24 THE BATTLE OF YORK 

then retired, but having first given the enemy 
another round and then spiked the guns. 

All this had been taking place around the point 
on which the Stanley barracks now stand, and in 
the battery at a spot opposite the foot of Strachan 
Avenue. In 1867 there were still some remnants 
of this western battery to be seen on the edge of the 
bank, but all have since been washed away or 
levelled. 

^lust we not admire these men of ours, attacked 
in front by a force admitted by their enemy to out- 
number them three to one, stormed at by the shot 
from the fleet which had followed up along the 
shore, with inferior artillery and no good defensive 
works, yet making a courageous stand at every 
available spot, and retiring when over-mastered, 
carrying with them their wounded and leaving to 
the victors only their dead, their dying and their 
spiked guns? 

Here, at the position of the Western Battery, is 
our fifth memorial. 

It was now about 12 o'clock. The fleet again bore 
up along the shore and poured in their fire upon 
the Halfmoon Battery. Pike and the first line again 
advanced towards this halfmoon, which was a small 
semi-circular earthwork without guns, thrown up 
across the road leading to the fort. The fleet, under 
Chauncey, tacked still further up and anchored 
within six hundred yards of the garrison. The 
schooners had been well handled, and our men suf- 



THE BATTLE OF YORK 25 

fered more from the flank fire from the sjuns of the 
fleet than they did from the men in front. 

Sheaffe had now retired to his stronghold, the 
garrison, in the okl fort. Pike, having advanced his 
men to within striking distance of the garrison, 
ordered a halt, making his men lie down and wait- 
ing for the six guns under Major Eustis to be 
brought up, while the garrison was silenced by the 
guns of the fleet. 

It was now between half-past 1 and 2 o'clock, and 
there was a lull. 

Pike concluded, and not unreasonably, that it 
was the preliminary to the making of proposals for 
a surrender, so advanced his men past the Half- 
moon Battery and halting them about two hundred 
yards from the main battery, sent Lieut. Riddle 
forward with a party to reconnoitre. The road to 
the garrison here used to follow close along the 
bank, and as Pike, who, with his two aide-de-camps, 
had also gone forward, was sitting down in the act 
of speaking to a Canadian militiaman named Joseph 
Shepherd, a deep tremor was felt, a sudden flash 
and roar, a column of smoke mingled with beams 
and huge stones shot up into the air. The maga- 
zine of the fort had been blown up. Pike was 
mortally crushed by the falling debris. As soon as 
the shock had sul)sided, the Americans, their leader 
having fallen, were for a time thrown into confusion, 
but after some delay entered in without further 
opposition and took possession of the fort from 
which, after arranging to destroy his fortress, 



26 THE BATTLE OP YORK 

Sheaffe had retired his men. The enemy had cracked 
the nut, but found the kernel empty. 

There has been a great deal of discussion upon 
this event as to whether it was accidental or inten- 
tional, and some confusion has been caused by con- 
founding this second explosion with the first one 
which had taken place just a little before in the 
western battery. 

What had occurred was as follows : When Gen- 
eral Brock had condemned a previous powder maga- 
zine, which was a small wooden shed only sixty 
yards from the King's or Government House, a new 
one had been constructed on the waterfront of the 
fort. A sketch by Lossing shows it as a low build- 
ing below the parapet of the fort, close down by the 
waterside. All doubts as to its position have been 
cleared up by the discovery of the original plan of 
1816, by Dr. Doughty, of the Archives of Ottawa, 
and published in the Evening Telegram by Mr, John 
Ross Robertson. In this the exact position is given 
and marked " Hollow left where the magazine was 
blown up on April 27th, 1813." 

There was at that time a long ditch under the 
whole western face of the old fort below the ram- 
parts and strengthened by sloping pickets, as shown 
on this plan of 1816. The road from the western 
battery followed along the bank until it reached this 
ditch when it turned northward, and turning to the 
right, crossed the ditch on a bridge to the entrance 
of the fort. The magazine was three hundred feet 
further to the east from the corner and on the water 
side below the south-western bastion. This maga- 



THE BATTLE OP YORK 27 

zine outside the fort was built of solid masonry, 
with a stone wall on the lake side, and a small jetty 
for unloading boats. The roof, with heavy beams, 
was nearly level with the surface of the ground, and 
stone steps descended into its vaults. In these were 
stored five hundred barrels of gunpowder, and an 
immense quantity of ammunition, shot, and shell, 
which had been accumulated for the coming cam- 
paign. With such contents the explosion could not 
fail to be disastrous. In addition to General Pike, 
Captain Dyon, Captain Fox, and 250 of the Ameri- 
can soldiers were wounded or killed by the far flung 
explosion, together with 40 of our own men who 
had not retired in time. 

That this explosion was intentional and done by 
order of General Sheaffe there is no doubt. Major 
Givens sent an orderly to warn his family, telling 
them to seek safety as the Americans were victori- 
ous, and the British being obliged to retreat, were 
going to blow up the fort in the endeavour to reduce 
for the enemy the fruits of their victory. This was a 
policy quite in accord with that carried out by 
Sheaffe during the remaining hours of the day. 

That it was intended, as has been alleged, to blow 
up the enemy as over a hidden mine, was not only 
improbable but impossible. The magazine was not 
inside the fort, and they could at no time march 
above it. Sergeant Marshall, who set fire to the 
fuse, said after the event that if he had thought that 
Sheaffe wished it he could have given ten minutes 
more port fire to the fuse. The intention was to 
destroy the ammunition, and the unintentional 



28 THE BATTLE OF YORK 

damage done to those who were in the neighbour- 
hood was by the falling stones. 

That the explosion was premature is beyond ques- 
tion, as shown by a number of our own men having 
been killed. Some have thrown doubt on this, and 
General Dearborn, writing from York on the follow- 
ing day, says: "The enemy set fire to their maga- 
zine too soon; they destroyed many of their own 
men." He also reports the number as being forty. 
That would include, no doubt^ a number of the 
wounded who had been carried in from the west- 
ern battery, whose condition, as seen by a by- 
stander, when being carried in through the gate 
of the garrison is described as most terrible, 
blackened and wounded by the explosion, particu- 
larly one poor fellow who was brought in on i\ 
wheelbarrow. Captain Loring, the aide-de-camp 
of General Sheaffe, who was superintending the 
retreat, was himself severely wounded and his 
horse killed under him. The annals of the Loyal 
and Patriotic Society record payments made to 
relatives of those who were killed by this second 
explosion. Both sides had suffered, for the effect 
was terrific. " The water," says Ingersoll, " shook 
as with an earthquake, and stones and rubbish were 
thrown as far as the decks of the vessels near the 
shore." Pike and Shepherd were both crushed by 
falling stones. The militiaman was carried away 
in the arms of his fellow soldier, Joseph Dennis, of 
Birchwood Western, and died a few hours after- 
wards. Pike, mortally crushed, was ])eing carried 
to the shore, when hearing the shouts of tiie victors, 



THE BATTLE OF YORK 29 

asked what they meant, and being told "The British 
flag is down and the American flag is going up," 
he (with a sigh) expressed his satisfaction. He was 
taken on board the Madison, on which General 
Dearborn had remained during the day, and, with 
the British flag under his head, which he had begged 
might be placed there. Pike died as he had wished, 
" like Wolfe, asleep in the hour of victor}//' 

Dearborn was severely censured for his inactivity. 
If he had been at his post on shore perhaps more 
energetic steps might at once have been taken to 
follow up the retreating forces. Some ofiicers were 
sent forward to demand a capitulation, but no 
further advance was made and Sheaffe was enabled 
to complete his plans. 

After arranging to blow up the fort Sheaffe re- 
tired along the Garrison Road, which followed the 
shore toward the town. He halted his men in the 
ravine of Russell's Creek, a part of which is now 
seen as a part of the Lieutenant-Governor's garden 
at the south of the present Government House, 
destroyed the stores which were in the dockyard 
which was on the shore just below it, and set fire to 
the new warship, which was almost completed. 
Leaving Colonel Chewett and Major Allan, of the 
3rd York, who were residents of the town, to ar- 
range with General Dearborn for the terms of 
capitulation, Sheaffe withdrew all the regulars 
along the Kingstone Road, meeting, a few miles east 
of the Don, the two light Companies of the 8th 
Regiment, which were following up the Grenadier 



30 THE BATTLE OP YORK 

Companies on their way to Fort George. With 
these he retired to Kingston. 

It is to be remembered that there were so few 
trained soldiers in the country that every regular 
and his equipment was of exceeding value, and that 
these same corps thus saved from being made pri- 
soners did splendid service three weeks afterwards 
at Sackett's Harbour, and in other engagements 
during the next two years. 

The terms made that evening were " that the resi- 
dent Militia should surrender on parole, that all 
public stores should be delivered up, and that all 
private property should be guaranteed to the citi- 
zens of the town." Notwithstanding this, some of 
the private stores were next day plundered, the Par- 
liament Buildings and the Court House burned, the 
church robbed and the town library pillaged. 

Four days later, after burning some of the houses, 
some of the barracks and the Government House in 
the Garrison, the Americans sailed away, taking 
with them the Duke of Gloucester^ which, however, 
was burned three w^eeks afterwards, by Sir James 
Yeo, when he attacked the Americans in Sackett's 
Harbour. 

Here, then, at the old Fort Y'ork, is our sixth 
memorial. 

What more could men do than did these 600 
heroes on our side that day against the 1,800 landed 
to attack them? On watch all night to see where 
the enemy would land, fighting every inch of the 
way for all the miles from the Humber Bay to the 



THE BATTLE OF YORK 31 

Garrison, stormed at by the hundred guns of the 
fleet, fighting from early dawn for eight hours 
against odds on land of three to one, battered by the 
guns of the fleet, manned by 800 more men, then, 
overborne, but not disgraced, with one man out 
of every three lying wounded or dead on the battle- 
field, they blew up their magazine, and the remnant 
withdrew, to be, as they afterwards proved, ready 
to fight another day. 

Todleben, in 1856, did the same. After doing his 
best in the defence of Sebastopol, he blew up his 
magazine, sank his ships, marched out his men, and 
left the fortress empty in the hands of the enemy. 
Was he disgraced? Nay, it has been heralded as a 
notable feat of arms. 

So, too, with our defenders of York in 1813 — it 
was a defeat yet it was a victory, for it inspired our 
people to learn the duty of self-defence. 

What of the noble 600 of Balaklava? They were 
beaten, they retired, yet " when shall their glory 
fade ?" 

So, too, with the 600 of our Humber Bay and old 
Fort York. Shall we forget their gallant deeds? 
Shall we not rise from the despicable slumber which 
has allowed this old fort of York to be a dumping- 
ground for refuse, a standing monument of forget- 
fulness. 

After years of endeavour for its repair and pre- 
servation we have at length arrived at a period of 
repentance. The city of Toronto has been entrusted 
with the care of these sacred precincts, and has 
undertaken to fully restore the fort in accordance 



JAN 11 1915 



32 THE BATTLE OF YORK 

with these recorded plans of 1816, in which are con- 
tained buildings and ramparts as on our eventful 
day, and are to be maintained as a National His- 
torical Memorial for ever. That this shall be amply 
done will be expected by the Dominion and the 
Province which have committed them to the city's 
care. 

The period of indecision is over, this old fort of 
York, the Memorial of our country's defenders, will 
soon be restored, beautified and made a i)lace of 
commanding- interest. 

May we not hope, too, that Memorials with appro- 
priate and explanatory inscription may be placed 
at the principal points along this memorable battle- 
field of the Garrison Commons, our Upper Canada 
field of Abraham. 

Here shall they stand as rallying points for our 
sons and daughters, teaching them the duty they 
owe in defence of their native land and as vivid 
memorials of the Brave Days of Old. 

Barlow Cumberland. 



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